Games for the Journey
“Are we there yet?”
Who would have thought four little words could get so tiresome. When your child is bored before you are even halfway to your destination, that is what you may well hear throughout your journey; that or the constant screech of the arguments your children may resort to in order to pass the time. Give a child a bag of sweets and they’ll be happy...until the bag is empty…but sweets are no good for children, what’s more, the sugar will only take them to a higher level of excitability and agitation, giving you a headache in the process. So when the food has gone, it’s the entertainment that will keep you all sane.
Thankfully there is no shortage of entertainment for your children on those long journeys. They could have their own travel bag complete with pens or pencils, paper, and a colouring book to hone their fine motor skills (albeit rather joltily), books to brush up on their reading skills, and toys to keep them company while they are strapped in and cooped up. Don’t forget about the countless travel games either, all designed to keep your little treasures busy while you concentrate on finding the road you are meant to be on!
But should your children tire of the usual things that keep them entertained in the car, here are a few ideas to pick up the slack:
Journey scavenger hunt
You can devise your own list of what to find: red triangle road signs, zebra crossing, street lamp, yellow lorry, post box...you can include anything you might see during your journey, and make the list as long or as short as you want.
Photo courtesy of Jen Theodore (Unsplash)
I-spy
Good for language skills and communication development, as well as observational skills. Always a favourite, and particularly humorous when listening to young children come up with things ‘they can see’. I myself have had young ones spot everything from alligators to unicorns! Sadly, I was not fortunate enough to spot either.
ABC shopping ist
Good for helping young children learn the alphabet and phonics. You can increase the difficulty for older children by getting them to recall all the previous items on the list too.
Number plate scrabble
See how many words your children can make using the letters on a number plate.
Audiobooks
Ah, the peace of one voice. Need I say more?
10 things I would take if I was/went… (Complete the sentence in any way you want).
…to space…was trapped on an island…on top of a mountain…
This is a fun game the whole family can enjoy. Get creative, make it fun, and anything counts!
Who/What am I?
Think of an animal or object and let the others guess who or what you are, but you can only reply yes or no. This game can last as long as you want, and is good for promoting language development as well as critical thinking while they classify the responses that narrow down the possibilities of the answer.
Number plate bingo
Make your own bingo cards before setting off on your journey, using random letters and single digit numbers, then let your children mark them off as they see them. This helps the younger children with letter and number recognition.
Educational apps/games
There are countless ‘games’ that will make learning fun so why not take advantage of the technology and put a few apps on their tablet. This can keep them busy for long periods, and they will be learning something at the same time. Check out the games on my three favourite websites.
Photo courtesy of Blake Meyer (Unsplash)